Kuromukuro

[shinta|hikari]

Summary from MAL:
During the construction of the Kurobe Dam, an ancient artifact was discovered, and so the United Nations Kurobe Research Institute was established. Intellectuals from all over the world gathered to study the object, and the children of those researchers attend Mt. Tate International Senior High School, including the institute head's daughter, Yukina Shirahane. In the summer of 2016, a lone samurai once again awakens.


Episode 4 is already out.





This is one of my favorites this season, possibly only behind Kabaneri. I've always been a fan of the badass Tarzan trope, and the Full Metal Panic vibes I get from this is a plus. I also love the sleeveless loli and the samurai style heavy mecha combat. If you haven't seen this, watch the first episode at least. The naked fight scene there is probably the best in anime period.

I can't wait for the blond kuudere to get into the mix.

[Munsu]

Oh, wasn't aware of this show's existence. Don't have much time to browse all releases so all I've been noticing are ones from Horriblesubs (which I assumed covered the whole season).

Getting this now.

[Ryllharu]

Overall, I'd say the story is pretty generic. But it is worth noting that this series is actually done by P.A. Works (Nagi no Asukara, Uchouten Kazoku, Hanasaku Iroha, Angel Beats, and Charlotte).

Despite the generic story, and in addition to the samurai mecha combat shinta mentioned, the actual charm of this series comes from its characters.

Awesome little sister who speaks in samurai dialect, scatter-brained dumbass mother who leads to the whole mess in the first place, swearing American support character, feisty main heroine, and realistic fish-out-of-water hero. But what is actually hard to describe is that they actually all feel like...people. They have natural reactions to the things going on around them, no one is passive and simply goes with the flow of the situation they're all thrust in. They have motivations, beliefs, agency, and personality. P.A. Works took what is their strong suit (characters) and applied it to a genre that most people had little faith in them accomplishing.

And it works. Remarkably well.

There's life to these characters. It's easy to empathize with them right away, and you end up feeling invested in their story (by the books as it is thus far) quite quickly.

[MasterOfMoogles]

One of my favorite shows this season so far.

[shinta|hikari]

Totally agree about the characters, especially bushiloli.

I just hope it doesn't devolve into drama fest, even though i admittedly like drama.

[Munsu]

Watched the first 2 episodes, and looks like it'll be one I'll be enjoying.

Naked sword fight scene was sweet indeed.

[Kraco]

Yeah, one of my favourite shows of the season as well. Now that Ryll mentioned it, he's absolutely correct about the characters. They all possess some depth.

I was somewhat sorry to see the one thing I didn't want to see in this episode: That only sword swings can destroy the enemy. A nuke apparently didn't do anything apart from stalling it a bit. I'd have rather heard it's extreme difficult to defeat them (very few would be willing to rely on nukes before all hope is lost in any case). I hope this will play no further role in the show.

[Ryllharu]

I'd guess it's like Dune. "The shield turns the fast blow, admits the slow."

Their gravity shield or whatever works against supersonic bullets or hypersonic explosions, but not so against traditional weaponry.

[shinta|hikari]

Didn't one of the enemy robots die from a cannon to the gut?

[Kraco]

I presume the enemy that couldn't be taken down even with a nuke was one of the head honchos. The other big ones were considerably weaker when Kennosuke and Yukina were fighting them (or when one was taken down by the contemporary humans). The last one standing, that then escaped, was clearly different. I'd guess that one actually had someone inside, the rest were just drones, just like the tiny runners. Albeit they all might boast organic technology.

[shinta|hikari]

Oh, so the one they killed with a team of modern soldiers was just fodder.

Damn, they are so fucked.

[Kraco]

Episode 5 - HS



- - - - ---



I wonder when somebody finally tells the anime studios that attack helicopters don't like to engage the enemy from 50 meters away but rather from 1km or more.

Quite a jolly episode. They are putting the tarzan trope to a good use. Sending Ken to attend high school classes was more or less a haphazard choice, but it would have some real benefits as well. It's obvious it won't give the man much education per se as he must have less knowledge than a middle schooler. In that sense he's only wasting his time there. On the other hand it will allow him to update his language and cultural skills and it's quite wise to stick him close to Yukina. The mecha won't function without both, so it's better if they get acquainted as much as possible. So, those two factors must be the reason why he's there.

I wonder what that male classmate's role will be. He hasn't got a chance to win Yukina's favour, that much is clear, but will he annoyingly hinder the fight?

[Ryllharu]

I'm really starting to wonder what Sophie's deal is. Is she friends with Yukina? Frenemies? Yukina seems to be quite fond of her as a classmate, but Sophie seems perpetually disappointed in her for reasons unknown.

Is it because she respects Yukina's ditz mother as a scientific expert and feels disappointment that Yukina seems to be a normal teenage girl?

We can safely assume that Yukina is somehow related to Kennosuke's lost princess, be it reincarnation or descendant. Perhaps Sophie learned of Yukina's lineage and is disappointed that a noble peer lack the same bearing she does?

Instead we got more cryptic mutterings from her, including displeasure that Yukina was chosen as the navigator to the artifact or the one that opened up the cube in the first place.

I know it is only the 5th episode of 26, but we need some answers somewhere!

We know nothing about Sophie, nothing about the command units of the demons, little about what happened in the past, and next to nothing about Yukina's family. Instead they've just kept adding characters. Male classmate with a crush on Yukina and nurse with a samurai fetish of her own.

[Munsu]

Looks like it'l officially have 26 episodes:
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/dail...isodes/.101863

P.A. Works revealed on Thursday that the Kuromukuro television anime series will be two cour and will have 26 episodes. The anime premiered in Japan on Tokyo MX on April 7. The anime celebrates the 15th anniversary of the studio.

Netflix had announced on April 7 that it had the exclusive worldwide streaming rights to the anime. The announcement stated that Netflix will stream the series in other countries at a later date, but did not give any other specifics about streaming debuts outside of Japan. The website is currently streaming the series with English subtitles on Netflix in Japan.

[KrayZ33]

I can't believe how funny this show is... he seriously tried to make his "steed" go faster by screaming "hieyaa, Haaa!, Huaar!"
It looked so silly.

[Munsu]

Episode 5 - HS



- - - - ---



I wonder when somebody finally tells the anime studios that attack helicopters don't like to engage the enemy from 50 meters away but rather from 1km or more.

Quite a jolly episode. They are putting the tarzan trope to a good use. Sending Ken to attend high school classes was more or less a haphazard choice, but it would have some real benefits as well. It's obvious it won't give the man much education per se as he must have less knowledge than a middle schooler. In that sense he's only wasting his time there. On the other hand it will allow him to update his language and cultural skills and it's quite wise to stick him close to Yukina. The mecha won't function without both, so it's better if they get acquainted as much as possible. So, those two factors must be the reason why he's there.

I wonder what that male classmate's role will be. He hasn't got a chance to win Yukina's favour, that much is clear, but will he annoyingly hinder the fight?

The reason he's in school is merely because it'll provide amusing scenes for entertainment purposes.

[shinta|hikari]

He's in school to copy FMP.

[Munsu]

In all, very much enjoying this series so far. Certainly among the favorites this season. Still not all that sure about the plot and the villains, have to see how that develops further.

The characters are good and the character interaction has been top notch.

[Kraco]

The reason he's in school is merely because it'll provide amusing scenes for entertainment purposes.

UN doesn't possess a sense of humour, so that can't be the reason.

[KrayZ33]

Im using gg-subs btw, is that blonde pilot really speaking like that or are they just trolling, it's hilarious though, so I'm not complaining

"I'll let you off the hook this time, because you were all brave and shit, but if you mess up again, I'll empty a clip of .45 up your ass."